Sew What?!

I’ve been thinking about picking up a new hobby of sewing and event talked my mom into giving me her old sewing machine to teach myself. She handed it over in November and ever since then I’ve been putting it off and feeling exhausted just glancing at the machine. It’s a skill set that I don’t have … I can barely sew a tiny hole and I don’t even know where to begin with sewing a button. Plus, I have chubby hands/fingers so threading a needle would be really fun, eh?

But I realized quickly that these destructive thoughts have to stop. If I’m ever going to try something new or pick up a new hobby, or get out of my comfort zone, I have to toss all negativity out of the window! Bam! My local Borders bookstore is going out of business so I stopped by to see if they had any crafty, sewing books on clearance that I could scoop up. I picked out an originally priced $19.95 book by Simplicity on the Basics of Sewing. It goes over everything from selecting your machine to know what stitches you’re wanting to make. I’ve been slowing making my way through the book, reading and re-reading sections so that they make sense (I still doubt that it all makes sense). But I have big dreams of creating cute dresses and purses and curtains for myself, so I’m trucking along through the book.

I’ve made a small physical step and pulled the machine out of it’s rolling case and placed it on my desk so that it’s in an area where I can turn it on and work it … if I get the confidence to dive in. I’m also debating taking a class at a local Joann Fabrics or other fabric store. Any advice for a novice beginner like me? And how did you learn to sew?